Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

200 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SLAV
12a4
12 l:r.c 1 is also very common and often
arises from the move-order 11 l:r.c1
0-012 b4. Now Black has a choice:
a) 12 ... b6 13 bS!? cS (13 ... .i.b7 !?)
14lLle4 (14 dSlLleS ISlLlxeS 'ii'xeS is
fine for Black) 14 ... 'ii'e7 IS dxcslLlxcs
16 lLlxcs bxcS (16 ... 'ii'xcs 17 .i.xe6
'ii'xbS 18 .i.dS .i.a6 19 .i.xa8 'ii'xfl +
20 'ii'xfl .i.xfl 21 .i.dS intending l:r.c7
gives White an advantage - Novikov)
17 'ii'a4 .i.b7 18 .i.e2 l:r.fd8 with approximately
equal play, Aseev-Novikov,
Novgorod 1995. Black's bishops
and active position make up for the
isolated c-pawn.
b) 12 ... eS 13 .i.b3! exd4 14 exd4
':d8?! (Sakaev and Nesis recommend
14 ... lLlb6, when after ISlLleS, IS ... .i.e6
16lLle4 'ii'e7 17 .i.xe6 'ii'xe6 18lLlcs
'ile7 19 l:r.el leads to an edge for
White; perhaps IS ... .i.fS is worth considering)
IS l:r.ellLlf8 16lLle4 'ilf4 17
lLlcS! 'ilc7 18 'ile2! b6 19lLld3 ± Sakaev-Galliamova,
Alushta 1994.
c) 12 ... 'ile7 13 'ilb3 (D) with another
branch:
B
cl) 13 ... eS?! 14 bS exd4 IS exd4
lLlb616 l:r.fel ± Lutz-Kuczynski, Bundesliga
1992/3.
c2) 13 ... b6. Black has a reasonably
clear-cut plan, viz. to complete his development
and then prepare to play
... cS or ... eS; if White follows with a4
at some point then Black replies ... as.
By contrast, White's best plan is not at
all clear. The most logical is to continue
some sort of queens ide action
but Black seems well placed to meet
this; the other possibility is to switch
to playing in the centre:
c21) 14 bS .i.b7 IS bxc6 .i.xc6 16
.i.e2 (16 lLld2 a6 17 .i.d3 bS 18 .i.e4
.i.xe4 19lLlcxe4lLlb6 20 l:r.c6 'ilb7 21
l:r.c2 'ii'dS 22l:r.fc1 'ii'xb3 23lLlxb3lLldS
= P.Nikolic-Anand, Monaco Amber
rpd 1998) 16 .. J:tac8 (16 ... a6!? 17 a4
l:r.fb8, intending ... bS, is worth considering)
17 lLld2 lLlb8 18 a4 l:r.fd8 19 f4
.i.b7 20 lLlc4 with a small advantage
for White, Aseev-Prie, St Petersburg
1996.
c22) 14 e4 .i.b7 IS l:r.fel l:r.fd8
(1S ... l:r.ac8 16 a3l:r.fd8 17 l:r.cdllLlf8
18 h3 l:r.c7 19 eS l:r.cd7 20 ':d2 cS! =
Novikov-Slobodjan, Calcutta 1996)
16 a4lLlf8 (16 ... aS 17 bS cS 18 dS is
betterforWhite) 17l:r.cdl':ab818 bS
':bc8 19 bxc6 ':xc6 20 lLldS 'ild7 21
lLlb4 l:r.cc8 22 dS and White is better,
Bacrot-Savchenko, Elista OL 1998.
c3) 13 ... lLlb6!? Black gives up all
hope of carrying out ... eS but simply
intends to complete his development.
Since Black has dS available for the
knight, Black is just in time to place